Our Impact

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What I learned with Pilot Light helps me choose good food for now and when I’m older. It also helps me because I get to learn where food comes from and how it’s harvested.

– 3rd Grade Student, Mitchell Elementary (Ukrainian Village)

Of kids liked
Pilot Light Lessons

Told their parents
about Pilot Light

As a Result of the Program

Our Reach

I learned in Pilot Light that food is really tied to history and culture so it’s important to use food to represent yourself. I feel like people do that sometimes in the world today. It affects how you view them and how they view themselves.

- 5th Grader

I just wanted to say that as an educator I was very impressed by everything I saw yesterday. From the involvement of the chefs to the application of the lessons everything was top notch! You have a very special program and concept going here and I really hope it can spread to other schools.

- Christina Erickson, High School Teacher, Chicago

Before Pilot Light, me and my friends would eat jolly ranchers all the time. Then in Pilot Light they showed us how to make hard candy out of sugar. Then we stopped eating it because we saw all of the sugar that went into it.

- 6th Grader

Thanks, [Pilot Light] for inviting us to participate in your event today. We were very impressed with everything Pilot Light is doing to educate Chicago students about food and nutrition. (And the food was mighty tasty, too.)

- Alan Shannon, USDA

Food connects us to the world because it’s kind of like, we’re on this planet for a reason and so is food. If we’re on the planet for a reason then we should try other things that are on the planet so you can be diverse with everything. But you can also put it back into the planet. Last year [in Pilot Light] we were talking about plants and how people do compost... better than throwing it away.

- 4th Grader

I really enjoyed the connection the lessons created between food production, nutrition, sources, and culture. I also enjoyed the hands on activities because they allowed the students to make real connection to the concepts.

About

Pilot Light is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that helps children make healthier choices by connecting the lessons they learn in their classrooms to the foods they eat on their lunch trays, at home and in their communities.